Archive of Our Own

Cloudtail idly sat in a patch of grass outside the medicine den, letting his tail swish back and forth as he watched his Clanmates carry out the activities of the early morning. The warm sun of oncoming newleaf spilled over the hollow, warming him from nose to tail-tip. Though it had been just over a moon since the battle with BloodClan, everyone had recovered well. Graystripe and Sandstorm had already put together the dawn patrol and the morning's hunting patrols. His Clan was strong, and they had enough cats that Sandstorm had given him permission to stay in camp for the morning. Also in camp was the expectant queen Ferncloud, who twitched her whiskers at him when he saw her resting inside the nursery. Bramblepaw, the eldest and only apprentice, was sitting with the elders after having brought them prey for the morning. Cloudtail had taken pity on him and sometimes helped him with the Clan's apprentices duties. Willowpelt's litter was going to be apprenticed soon. Cloudtail knew that Bramblepaw was looking forward to that day, as was Sandstorm, who was going to take Sorrelkit on as apprentice.

Looking up, he saw Firestar on the Highrock. His mentor, kin, and leader jumped down into camp, then padded over towards him with his fur fluffed out.

"You look comfortable!" Firestar said. The lift in his voice let Cloudtail know that he wasn't being teased. His kin was jealous of Cloudtail's long fur. It was an asset during winter, where it helped him avoid the cold that plagued most of his fellow Clanmates. However, it also meant extended grooming sessions and, most of the year, that prey could spot him from halfway across the territory.

"I am," Cloudtail said simply, stretching out his front legs and coming to a standing position. "Do you need any repairs done in camp? Otherwise, Brightheart and I are going to Tallpines after she's done. Cinderpelt has some herbs that she wants us to check on for early newleaf."

"That's just fine." Firestar flicked an ear at Cloudtail, pleased. "Could you check the Twolegplace border for any new rogues and longers? I know patrol is covering it, but I'd like you to go into Twolegplace itself to check around some."

"Of course, Firestar!" Cloudtail felt proud of himself that Firestar could rely on him as his expert when it came to Twolegplace. He regretted his youthful foray into it for kittypet food, but he was glad that he could be of use to his Clan in this way.

"Wonderful. You can catch up with me after nightfall. I'm going out training with Bramblepaw! We're meeting with Mistyfoot at Sunningrocks to talk about water safety."

Cloudtail laughed a bit, sure that the apprentice would rather be hunting or practicing battle moves than learning about the dangers of falling in ice. "Good luck with that!"

Firestar left, beckoning Bramblepaw to him with a tail-flick. The eager apprentice, who was these days the size of any grown warrior, bounded off after his mentor. For a while, the camp was still. He could hear some of what Brightheart and Cinderpelt were doing in the medicine den, though he tried not to eavesdrop.

As the sun made its way up further into the sky, shifting the patches of sunlight that were cast onto the ground, Cloudtail set to grooming his legs and paws. It was a task with no real start or end. When Brightheart padded outside the medicine den and over to him, he happily jumped up, nuzzling his forehead against the unscarred side of her head. She'd complained of her head scarring aching, hence the morning trip to the medicine den. Cloudtail felt lucky that these days, Brightheart's medicine den visits were check-ups instead of battles for life. If he worshipped StarClan the same way the rest of his Clan did, he was sure that he would be thanking them for it. 

"How was everything?" he asked.

"Just fine," Brightheart said. "Cinderpelt applied a poultice, then had me do some stretches after letting it sit. She said the scarring was tensing up, but it should get better as the weather warms."

"That's wonderful!" Cloudtail said, swishing his tail happily against the ground. "Do you need some time to rest, or are you feeling good to head to Tallpines?"

"I'm ready." Brightheart kneaded the ground with her forepaws. "It felt like I was waiting with the poultice on my face forever. Cinderpelt tested me on the herbs -- she said I'm getting really good at it!"

His mate was officially a warrior and always would be, but she had found a talent for herbs while recovering from the attack and had been learning how to harvest and use them from Cinderpelt. Cloudtail knew Firestar appreciated that if his former apprentice ever grew ill, there would be a Clanmate ready to care for her and anyone else who needed it.

"I wish the rest of the Clan knew that I wasn't really training to be a medicine cat, though," Brightheart mewed. She was speaking in a lower voice than normal, and Cloudtail flicked his ears over to her to listen closely. "I like being able to help, but sometimes Graystripe forgets to assign me to patrols. And yesterday, Speckletail asked me what I was doing sharing tongues with you so closely!"

"It's not Speckletail's fault. She's just old-fashioned, you know," Cloudtail said, but it felt inadequate. It made his heart twinge to see Brightheart so upset. He wished there was something he could do to help his mate feel more supported by the Clan.

Together, the two of them left camp, heading out on the well-worn trail up into territory and setting a path for Tallpines. As they walked, Cloudtail told Brightheart about what Firestar had asked of them.

"He wants us to go into Twolegplace?" Brightheart asked, her mouth hanging open for a moment.

"Just for a few tail-lengths," Cloudtail explained. "It'll be fine."

"I know it's fine. It's only that, well, we're Clan cats. We don't need to do that!"

Brightheart's yowl reminded Cloudtail that their relationship and decision to become mates had only started well after Cloudtail's apprentice-age errors with Twolegs. It was something the two of them had never talked about.

"He wants us to make sure there's no threats to be aware of. If we'd checked Twolegplace more, we wouldn't have been surprised so much by BloodClan."

"I suppose." Brightheart blinked at him. "When did you start paying attention to Clan politics?"

"Hey! I can be clever sometimes." Cloudtail gave his chest fur an embarrassed lick. The truth was that he hadn't ever paid attention to Clan politics before the fight to save the forest. It was his home, and if he was going to protect it, he ought to know how everything fit together.

Conversation falling away, they checked on the newleaf sprouts of Cinderpelt's herbs dotted around Tallpines. Everything had survived the winter without being killed off or dug up by squirrels, which Brightheart was especially happy to see. After that, they made their way to the Twolegplace border, catching the scent of the dawn border patrol. With practiced ease, Cloudtail hopped onto and then down from the Twoleg's fence. His nose twitched rapidly as he took in all the unusual smells left by Twolegs and the cats who lived around them. Looking behind him for a moment, he realized that his mate was still on the other side of the fence.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Shaking her head, Brightheart leapt up, passing fully over the fence and landing beside him. She seemed to flinch at the feeling of the Twoleg path beneath her paws. "I'm fine. Look, there's no other cats here. Can't we go back to camp?"

"I want to see Princess first!" Cloudtail trotted forward into Twolegplace with his tail held up high behind him. It wasn't every day that your Clan leader gave you permission to go outside of territory, even if his leader did happen to be his kin. Brightheart followed at his side, her pawsteps a touch more wary.

"Are you sure?" Brightheart mewed. Her voice was unusually quiet. "I don't think she'd want to see me."

"Of course she will! You're the most important cat I've ever met."

"I know, Cloudtail, but she's a kittypet. Please be realistic. She's never seen an injury worse than a torn claw, has she?"

"Do you have to say it like that? Being a kittypet doesn't make someone a bad cat."

"Kittypets are different from us. They don't know hunger or fear or cold -- they only know soft things. It's better for you to understand that."

Privately, Cloudtail felt himself disagreeing with what Brightheart had said. Still, he wasn't sure how to convince her otherwise. He'd heard the code that a warrior rejects the soft life of a kittypet since his earliest memories in the nursey with Brindleface. He knew that someone like Brightheart, with Clanborn ancestry as far back as she could remember, would have no reason to think the reality of kittypet life could be more complex than that.

"She might surprise you," he settled on. Brightheart huffed, but touched him with her tail-tip for a moment to let him know that she wasn't upset with him.

Cloudtail took the lead, navigating the two of them down the paths that would take them to his mother's' nest. He gave some kittypets in their nests and friendly-looking loners a nod or wave of his tail, and they responded to him in kind.

"Do these cats know you?" Brightheart asked.

"Not really?" Cloudtail wasn't sure how to answer his mate's question. "I mean, I have seen a couple of them before, but we don't know each other especially well. I'm just being friendly!"

"You don't need to be friendly," his mate said. "Being friendly won't keep them off our territory, or from stealing our prey."

"It doesn't take any prey for me to be friendly, either!" Cloudtail blinked at Brightheart. "Besides, if they think we're safe, then they can ask us for help if there's trouble!"

"That does make sense," she said, like the words were a thorn she'd had to yank from her pelt.

"You should try it! Here, there's a kittypet on the edge of their Twoleg's nest territory. Go say hello!"

"How do you even know they're a kittypet?"

"Their scent is layered all over the Twoleg's territory. They have a dark-tip pelt, too!" The kittypet in question had the darker ear, paw, and tail-tips that sometimes appeared on kittypet's pelts, but never developed on Clanborn cats.

"Okay. I'll try it, but you owe me a new treasure for my nest if they run off when they see me."

"Deal!" Cloudtail tried to smother a small purr. He didn't need any extra reason to do something nice for his amazing mate.

He watched as Brightheart approached the kittypet, keeping her head angled away so that the worst of the scarring was out of their sightline. He couldn't tell what the two of them were talking about from his distance. He was able to see her fur prick up in interest and her head turn to face the kittypet directly. After a few minutes, which he spent batting at a leaf fluttering in the wind, his mate came back towards him. He jumped up, trying to look like a serious Clan warrior who hadn't just been goofing around.

"So? Do I need to go find a treasure?" Cloudtail's question was betrayed by his happily-twitching whiskers. He already knew that the conversation had been a success.

"No," Brightheart admitted. "She was nice, even if her name was weird. She thought my scars made me look like a real wildcat, and she warned me that she's seen a lot of hawks lately, so we should keep close watch on any kits."

"She would probably think our names are weird!" He let out an amused chirp. "I'm glad it went well."

"Doesn't mean I'll go around talking to every kittypet. Let's go find your mother so we can get back to territory sometime before evening."

It didn't take much longer for the two of them to make it to the familiar Twoleg nest where Princess lived. Cloudtail stepped into the Twoleg territory, leaping across the strange flat rocks scattered across the small meadow in order to get to the nest itself. He let out a light meow, looking in through a Twoleg false-opening to try and spot his mother. The brown tabby was resting inside, but perked up when she heard Cloudtail, making her way to the nest's exit. 

"Cloudtail!" she purred, leaping towards him and covering his forehead in licks of her tongue. Once a mother, always a mother, he supposed. "It's so good to see you. Fireheart told me everything went okay with the BloodClan battle, but I was still worried!"

"I'm fine, mom." He tried to wriggle out from her cleaning, eventually succeeding and leading her towards Brightheart. She'd gotten Firestar's name wrong, but that wasn't worth trying to correct. He wondered if Firestar liked having one cat in his life that didn't see him through the system of Clan ranks.

"What brings you out here?" Princess asked. "Not that I'm complaining, but I don't want you to be in trouble! You aren't in trouble, are you? Oh, do you need food? I'm sure I would be able to get some to you if you needed it. Or is anyone sick?"

"I'm not in trouble," Cloudtail said, "we have enough prey, nobody's sick. I promise."

"If you say so." Princess looked him up and down. "You still look so skinny!"

"This is normal for a ThunderClan cat." He'd grown kittypet-chubby in his apprentice days, but now he was as lithe and strong as any Clan cat. "Anyways, I brought someone special with me. I'd like you to meet her!"

"Really? You don't mean -- you have a mate now? Oh, my baby boy, all grown up!" Princess rubbed into him, nearly bowling him over with the force of her enthusiasm. "Where is she? Oh -- what should I say to her? You and Fireheart are the only Clan cats I've met, after all."

"You don't have to worry about what to say. It'll be fine, I promise," he reassured, signaling Brightheart over to him with his tail. She stepped out from behind the hedge that wrapped around this Twoleg territory, confident with her head held high. She was refusing to flinch from whatever Princess might think of her. Cloudtail loved her in every moment, but he thought she'd rarely looked as beautiful as she did just then.

"Hello!" Princess chirped at Brightheart. Cloudtail could see his mother hesitate for a moment, silently taken aback by the intensity of Brightheart's scarring, but it really was for just a moment. Princess blinked, then set what she had noticed aside. "It's so nice to meet you, dear. I'm Princess."

"Well met," Brightheart said, acknowledging Princess with a small dip of her head. "I would typically ask you how your prey's been running recently, but I'm sure your Twolegs feed you well enough?" Cloudtail knew his mate well enough to see the bit of revulsion she felt at the idea of Twoleg-given kittypet food, but to her credit, she was hiding it well. His mother wasn't the most perceptive of cats, so it was unlikely that she would pick up on it at all.

"Yes!" Princess purred happily. "They've been getting me this new special wet food, it tastes just like fresh tuna -- oh, but I must sound so silly to you. How about this? I've been doing some hunting lately! Real hunting. I even caught a squirrel!"

Cloudtail stared at his mother, eyes wide. She had to be joking! He couldn't imagine his precious, dainty mother managing a successful kill. Sure, she had teeth and claws just like any Clan cat did, but... it just didn't fit her. 

"Really?" Cloudtail asked. He had meant it just as a question, but from the way Brightheart cringed beside him, he could tell it had come off more disbelieving. He hadn't meant to be so rude, especially not to his own mother! It just happened sometimes, with him. Back when he was Firestar's apprentice, they'd had many long conversations about that kind of thing.

"No need to sound so shocked!" Princess puffed up her fur. "I might not be as brave or wild as either of you, but I can hold my own out there."

"Well done," Brightheart said. "I wish I could say your son inherited any of your hunting abilities, but he's clumsy out there on hunts!"

"Hey!" Cloudtail bristled playfully, bumping sideways against Brightheart. "I can help on hunts."

"With driving rabbits out of their dens, sure," Brightheart said, but he could hear how pleased she was. 

"What's Cloudtail best at, then? Surely my son must be good at something. Please tell me -- Fireheart never does!"

Cloudtail exchanged a glance with his mate, his mind racing, a heavy weight sitting inside his chest. What he was best at, aside from generally caring for the camp and his Clanmates, was fighting in battle. How could he tell his mother that his greatest strength lay in hurting other cats? It had been needed -- had kept himself and his Clanmates safe during the great battle with BloodClan -- and would continue to be needed in the future, but it was still hard to sit with. If he had been given to a Twoleg home instead of hurried off to ThunderClan by Firestar, he would likely find the very idea of fighting other cats too awful to consider.

"Well," Cloudtail said, but found himself unable to go on. Clearly, if Firestar didn't tell Princess about this strength of his, then it was better for him to continue to keep it secret.

"Don't be modest! I'm your mother. I want to know," Princess said, seeming to be perfectly oblivious to the turmoil inside Cloudtail's heart.

"Your son is a wonderful helper," Brightheart said. "He always looks out for good materials for rebuilding dens, and he helps take care of the elders and kits in camp. Watching the young ones play-attack his tail almost makes me feel playful like a kit too! He visits people who are hurt in the medicine den and tells them all kinds of elaborate stories."

Cloudtail purred happily, straightening his tail up behind him with pride. It was hard for him to feel that this sort of thing was truly a useful talent for the Clan -- not like fighting was. Fighting did something real. It was him putting his life on the line for the wellbeing of his Clanmates. He hadn't realized that, in the mind of a true Clanborn cat like Brightheart, this sort of companionship and help could be valued just as much.

"As it happens," Brightheart continued, "he took care of me. It was our medicine cat, Cinderpelt, who treated the wounds that gave me these scars. But it was Cloudtail who healed me emotionally. He refused to give up on me, and on the idea of me being a warrior again. He trained with me until I figured out new techniques that would work with only my good eye and ear. He gave me hope."

Brightheart whisked her tail back and forth on the ground, seeming a bit embarrassed after her upfront revelation. Cloudtail moved in close, purring and nuzzling against the unscarred side of her head. 

"You're not giving yourself enough credit," he said. "You're so brave and thoughtful, and you never stop working hard for your Clanmates. That's the reason why I decided to stay and become a full ThunderClan warrior."

"You stayed because you wanted to be her mate?" Princess blinked at both of them happily. "What a lovely story!"

"That's not it," Cloudtail said, struggling for the words. How could he explain it? Firestar was the one who was good with words -- he hadn't inherited that power that his kin possessed. "I stayed because she inspired me to stay. She made me realize that life as a Clan cat could hold more meaning than any life as a kittypet that I could find. I think that if you'd never brought me to the Clans, I would have been a perfectly happy, content kittypet."

From Brightheart's gasp at his side, he knew she still didn't fully grasp the idea of what made kittypets content with their lives. Maybe that was okay. Kittypets and Clan cats could be different, so long as they were able to show respect for each other's choices.

"But since I'd seen what it meant to live a life for others, as part of something larger -- I couldn't give that up. It took me a while to understand, but now I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world," he finished.

"Oh, Cloudtail." Princess rushed up to him, happily nuzzling against him back and forth before licking his forehead over and over. He instinctively ducked down, letting her clean him like he was still a newborn kit. Eventually, she pulled back. Looking to his side, he saw Brightheart holding back some laughter with a bit of effort. He could only guess how ridiculous he looked with just one spot of over-cleaned fur! 

"I am truly so happy for you." Princess was practically beaming. "It's scary for me to think about you getting hurt out there. And I didn't even know cats could heal from injuries like that without the special Twolegs! But so long as you're both happy with your lives, I am too. Oh, my! If you're going to have kits together, you will come back to tell me, won't you?"

"Mom..." Cloudtail felt a bit flushed from embarrassment. Maybe it was a good thing that Princess wasn't a ThunderClan cat! It saved him from feeling like this every day. Still, it was nice to be fussed over. 

"We are happy," Brightheart said, not very subtly dodging the question his mother had asked them about kits. It was something that they hadn't discussed -- everything was so busy with preparing to take on BloodClan, and then the long recovery process afterwards. Cloudtail didn't have any strong opinions on the subject of kits yet. So long as Brightheart felt satisfied with her place in the Clan, Cloudtail didn't have anything to fret over.

"That's wonderful. I'm so glad my son could find someone as brave as you."

"I'm not that brave, really, any Clan cat--" Cloudtail bumped into Brightheart's side. He knew the way she felt about herself, and sometimes it took her a little extra encouragement to acknowledge the kind of cat she truly was. "Thank you, Princess," Brightheart finished.

"Before we head back to Clan territory," Cloudtail said. "It's really impressive that you were able to catch some prey, Mom, but please don't do it again? Your Twolegs give you enough to eat, so it's not polite to catch prey just because. Some other cat out there might really need it."

"Oh, but there is someone out there who needs it!" Princess's eyes flashed with sudden recognition. "There's a former kittypet who walks around the neighborhood. She's a tortoiseshell, a scrawny little thing, poor dear. Her former Twolegs took away her claws, so she can't hunt on her own."

Cloudtail took this information in, pity filling him up from nose to tail-tip. He knew what Princess meant, as he'd met some of these claw-less kittypets before. It was a horrible thing. Next to him, Brightheart took a step back in shocked horror, then shook her head, seemingly in disbelief. Of course -- his mate hadn't had the experience with Twolegs that he and especially his mother had. To her, this seemed like some bizarre tale to scare kits with.

"Why don't you share your Twoleg food, or help her find a Twoleg of her own? There's still no need for hunting prey." It was clear that Brightheart didn't believe it was possible to truly lose one's claws, even if it was something Twolegs did, but she was too polite to say so directly to Princess.

"Autumn -- that's her name -- doesn't trust Twolegs after what happened to her. Can you blame her? She doesn't want to ever go inside a Twoleg home again. I love my Twolegs. They treat me real nice, and play with me, and give me lots of toys. I told Autumn all about this, but she still insisted she wouldn't accept anything from Twolegs. Not even a bowl of my Twolegs' food."

"I'd like to meet her," Cloudtail said. "Do you know how to find her?"

"You're not thinking of taking her into your Clan, are you?" Princess stared at both of them with wide eyes. "I suppose it's alright for both of you to live wild, even if it still scares me. But you're brave and strong and can fight! She doesn't even have her claws. I don't know if she'd be able to survive out there."

"We simply would like to meet her and see if we can help, that's all," Brightheart said. Cloudtail was impressed that, after the earlier events of the day, his mate would be willing to spend more time in Twolegplace instead of heading back to camp, as she surely wanted to do. Probably it was that Brightheart wanted to protect their prey, since anyone hunting in the Twolegplace on behalf of Autumn might end up in ThunderClan territory. Still, he was pleased that Brightheart saw the reason behind keeping an eye on Twolegplace, even if it wasn't a typical thing for Clan cats to do.

After that, Princess gave them both directions to the alley where Autumn could typically be found. Cloudtail made note of them, freeing Brightheart from trying to understand all the Twoleg-specific words Princess used in her explanation. Then they both said goodbye to his mother, Cloudtail giving her an extra nuzzle of his face against hers. She wished them well, and they headed off in search of Autumn.

"It was nice to meet your mother," Brightheart said. This was after Princess had gone back inside her Twolegs' den and was well out of hearing range. "I can't believe she's from the same litter as Firestar, though! The two of them couldn't possibly be more different cats."

Cloudtail let out an amused purr. "I know what you mean! Princess is scared of everything outside, and sometimes it seems like Firestar isn't afraid of anything."

Both of them knew that wasn't really true -- no cat was fearless, and if they actually were fearless, that made them dangerous -- but Firestar was so charismatic and brave that it really seemed like it was true, sometimes. He'd had a rough start picking up as leader after Bluestar's death, but now there was no cat in ThunderClan who didn't respect him.

"What do you think of this kittypet, Autumn?" Brightheart asked, struggling a bit over the unfamiliar word. Cloudtail knew he'd heard it before, but that was all that he could manage to remember. Kittypets had so many Twoleg words, the meanings of which he'd long since forgotten. 

"It's awful for her," Cloudtail said. "You've never seen a cat without claws before. Trust me -- it's real, and it's horrible." No cat was meant to be without their claws. It went against the very nature of being a cat.

Brightheart just hummed at him, stuck between wanting to trust him and her instinctive disbelief. Cloudtail understood it was hard for her to understand. That part didn't matter -- she would see for herself with Autumn soon enough.

"I thought all kittypets had soft lives." Brightheart spoke soft and gently, as if the words were something fragile which she had to test out.

"That's the way it's supposed to be," Cloudtail said. "But sometimes Twolegs are cruel and don't care for them the way they should. Or they get sick, and they aren't able to care for kittypets any more. Or Twolegs die, leaving a kittypet to fend for themselves."

"Being a Clan cat is better. When bad things happen in a Clan, we can do something about it. We can fight or care for our sick cats. What could you even do against a Twoleg?"

Nothing, was the unspoken answer. Nothing at all. Twolegs were too big and strong, strange and unable to be understood. 

"Do you think my mother has a soft life as a kittypet?"

"She does, clearly. She doesn't understand danger at all, and she has this perfect contentment. Like she doesn't look out for danger at all!" Brightheart exclaimed the last words, and they echoed across the Twolegplace. "Still... I don't think that makes her a bad cat. It's not the way we live as Clan cats, but I think it's okay for her to live differently from us."

They were treading into complex territory here, the sort of thing one wouldn't typically talk about in a Clan, he figured. ThunderClan with Firestar as leader was a different sort of Clan, though.

"What do you think of the code?" It was obvious which part of it he meant -- he didn't have to specify.

"I think... a warrior shouldn't live the life of a kittypet. It goes against our ways. But... maybe we're a bit too harsh in the Clan." They paused for a moment, the only sound the padding of their feet against the Twoleg path. They were in a park, which was like a Twoleg forest, except odd and crafted with far fewer trees than a real forest would have. "We don't need to despise kittypets in order to value our own ways as Clan cats."

Cloudtail purred happily, twining his tail with Brightheart. He knew that what she said wasn't likely to become the new way of warriors anytime soon. The other three Clans' views on kittypets were still firmly in the negative. Still, he felt better, in a way. Lighter, something lifted that had been weighing on his back. Brightheart no longer saw him as an outlier, some cat from a poor background that had managed to become an exception and a proper warrior. She saw him just as himself, kittypet background and all.

"Don't go around repeating that at Gatherings, of course," Brightheart said. "I'm just thinking some things over, that's all."

"Of course. Besides, I don't repeat everything I hear!"

"You kind of do. You're terrible at keeping other cats' secrets!" Brightheart's voice was happy and light -- she was merely teasing him.

"Well, then other cats shouldn't have secrets," Cloudtail said with finality, as if that meant anything at all. Besides, some secrets were just so obvious that they hardly counted. Everyone knew that Dustpelt had a crush on Ferncloud, after all!

They walked together through the Twolegplace, Cloudtail taking point and protecting them from monsters or any other strange Twoleg contraptions. It wasn't very long after their conversation about the code and the nature of kittypets that they arrived at the alley Princess had indicated. In fact, they had somewhat wrapped their way back around so that they were near the border with Tallpines. It was good for the two of them to meet with Autumn. There was half a chance that she would have made her way into territory accidentally. Even though the cats of ThunderClan were understanding on the whole, no one would respond kindly to a trespasser.

The alleyway was dark, lacking any of the warmth of the morning they'd spent in camp, and Cloudtail could see a shiver set into Brightheart's spine from the chill of early newleaf. As his eyes adjusted to the lower light, he looked and sniffed around. There were several boxes overturned against a wall, and there was some cat-scent, although it was difficult to make anything out given the stench of Twoleg refuse. It was almost as bad as fresh-kill left out to rot in greenleaf. Cloudtail met Brightheart's good eye -- it was clear they both were thinking the same thing. This was no place for any cat to live.

"Hello, Autumn?" he asked. "Are you here? Princess sent us to find you."

Cloudtail and Brightheart sat there in the dark alley for a moment. Nothing.

"We should go. She's not here, and this place is horrid," Brightheart said. She was holding her tail up stiffly so that it didn't drag against the muck of the alley. 

"Wait. Just a bit more," Cloudtail whispered. He flicked one ear, thinking he could hear something moving around in the piles of Twoleg junk. It could have just been a rat -- but what if it wasn't? He waited with bated breath, hoping to see the former kittypet emerge from her hiding place.

The creature that emerged from the hiding place was a cat, but she held no resemblance to either well-fed kittypets like Princess or lean, strong warriors who fed on fresh prey. She looked out at them from the darkness with glowing amber eyes. Her fur, though she'd clearly made an attempt at keeping it well-kept, was scraggly and ruffled over her body. As she stepped towards them, walking gingerly on her paws, he could hear a soft intake of breath from Brightheart. Her claws were well and truly gone.

"You know Princess?" Autumn asked. Her voice was dry and raspy.

"Yes," Cloudtail said. "She's my mother. She told us about you. We're here to help." He kept what he was saying short and simple -- it seemed that, in her hunger and tiredness, it was taking Autumn longer to think things through than it would for a typical cat. Sometimes the Clan's elders got this way as well, and he was used to helping them through it.

"Oh," Autumn said. She looked back and forth between him and Brightheart. She didn't react at all to Brightheart's scars, but it was possible she wasn't fully seeing them. "You don't smell like her. You don't smell like Twolegplace."

"We're not from the Twolegplace," Cloudtail confirmed. Autumn nodded at him, but it was a bit listless. 

"I'll go hunt," Brightheart whispered to him. It was clear that Autumn would benefit from some food to eat. Cloudtail nodded, and Brightheart turned and ran towards the Twoleg park. He hoped that she would be able to quickly find some good prey. Brightheart would call it StarClan looking out for her; Cloudtail just called it luck.

"We're here to help you out of this alley." Cloudtail stepped a bit closer to Autumn. "My friend just went to get some prey. Do you have a favorite kind?"

"Anything that's real prey. No kibble," Autumn said. Despite her tiredness, she made the declaration with some real force behind it.

(The situation wasn't funny, but Cloudtail felt a bit of humor regardless at this supposedly kittypet's derision for Twoleg food. If she had been brought into the Clan as a kit, she wouldn't have had any apprentice-age excursions into Twolegplace for kibble.)

"Okay. My friend is a really good hunter. I'm sure she'll be back soon."

"She only has one eye," Autumn said, but there was no judgement behind it. It was more that she was thinking it through for herself. "And one ear."

"That's right."

"How does she hunt?" Autumn asked this with the most interest he'd seen from her since she'd crawled out of her hiding spot.

"It took a lot of practice," Cloudtail said. "She uses her whiskers on that side to help her sense. She told me that the hardest part is judging how far away things are. Everything seems flat with just one eye."

Just after Cloudtail had finished this explanation, Brightheart trotted back towards them. She stopped at the edge of the alleyway, carrying a fat pigeon by the neck between her teeth. Cloudtail could only stare at her for a moment in amazement. A whole pigeon! His mate truly was an incredibly talented hunter. 

"Let's walk this way." Cloudtail gently encouraged Autumn forward. She moved forward on shaky paws towards the light at the end of the alleyway. When she saw the pigeon properly, her nose surely flooded with the scent of fresh prey, she bounded towards it. 

Without needing to talk, the three of them set about removing feathers from the fresh catch. Each time part of the prey was ready to be eaten, Autumn dug in. By the time she was done, much of the pigeon was gone, but there was still some left for Brightheart and Cloudtail. The day was getting late, and it was good for them to have their fill of prey for the trek back to camp. After they were done, Brightheart took care of the bones, and Cloudtail and Autumn set about cleaning their fur. Cloudtail always needed to clean himself, having white fur that stained quickly and obviously. Autumn's fur was mostly dark around her mouth, and Cloudtail couldn't even see the stains that she was cleaning away. It seemed that looking well-groomed was something truly important to her.

"How are you feeling?" Brightheart asked. She sat down in the sunshine at the edge of the alleyway, wrapping her tail around and over her front paws.

"Much better. Thank you for the catch," Autumn said. "Pigeon is a real treat. You're very talented."

There was a pause around the three of them, as if Brightheart was waiting for the phrase commonly thrown at her by other cats, especially those outside of ThunderClan. Very talented for her condition. Very talented given her injuries. Very talented despite her scarring.

But no further commentary came. Autumn let the compliment sit there without any additions.

"Thank you," Brightheart said. She licked her chest, as if a bit embarrassed to be praised so.

"My name is Autumn, though you know that already. I appreciate that you're here to help me. I don't need any pity."

"We're not here to look down on anyone," Cloudtail said. "Any cat can fall on difficult times."

"Yes, well." Autumn stared him down with eyes that were just a touch too perceptive. She reminded him, in a way, of Sandstorm. "Most cats aren't declawed, are they?"

"We can help you find a nice new Twoleg home, and then that won't be an issue," Brightheart said. "I don't know about Twolegs that much, but Princess must. Hers are very kind to her. Maybe you could live with them. Then you won't have to--"

"Won't have to what?" Autumn asked. Her voice was polite and reserved, but Cloudtail could hear the tension rising underneath it. "Won't have to live in this awful place, scrounging for scraps of food? No, thank you. I'd take anything rather than going back inside Twoleg walls. I'll never trust anything to do with them ever again."

Brightheart narrowed her good eye. Cloudtail wanted to speak, to interrupt the tension rising between the two of them, but he couldn't think of anything to say.

"You have the ability to take the easy path in life. You're cute in the way kittypets are," Brightheart said. "Just choose one, and you'll have food. We can come check in on the Twoleg nest every now and then and make sure you're happy there."

Autumn bristled, bushing out her tail and staring at them with ears pulled back. "Never. Now, thank you for the prey, but I think it's best if both of you leave."

Brightheart pulled back then, seeming satisfied with something. "So you never, ever want to live with Twolegs again. That's good."

Cloudtail stared at his mate in surprise. He knew Princess had mentioned it, but -- well, his mother didn't know what she was talking about when it came to Clan business! Surely Brightheart wasn't actually thinking what he thought she might be. Regardless of his personal feelings on those with kittypet backgrounds, ThunderClan had barely accepted him, and he had just been a kit. Yes, Firestar was leader, but these days the Clan treated him as if his kittypet months were only a minor blemish, all but forgotten. He doubted the more traditional members of the Clan would take to accepting a strange, fully adult former kittypet into ThunderClan. It was simply not done!

Then he looked back to Brightheart. Her head was held up high, and he could see determination flowing through every inch of her. He wasn't sure what it was. Maybe Brightheart saw herself in Autumn. Maybe she wanted to have a Clanmate who understood what it was to be different like her and who she could fight alongside in battle. Maybe she just wanted to offer this prideful, dignified cat the honor of Clan life. He couldn't tell, but in the moment, he suspected it was a mixture of all of those things.

Autumn sniffed the air suspiciously. "No, and I never will. Who are you both, actually? You said you're not from the Twolegplace. Then, why are you here?"

From the way Autumn spoke, he figured that his mother hadn't told her about Clan cats. Cloudtail decided it was best to start with the basics and work outwards from there.

"I'm Cloudtail, and this is my mate, Brightheart. We live as wild cats in the woods in our Clan. Since my mother lives here as a kittypet, I like to come see her sometimes."

"Wild cats," Autumn said, looking them over thoughtfully. "You said Clan. You're not to do with BloodClan, are you? That's bad news. They tried to force me into their little group, but I refused. Then one day, all of them were just gone."

The day of the battle with BloodClan had been a terrible day -- it would have been the worst day of his life, if not for the day he'd seen Brightpaw dragged into the medicine den, barely holding onto life. Instead of saying any of that, Cloudtail nodded and said "We took care of BloodClan. Our leader stood up to them and forced them to disperse."

"Did your leader kill theirs, then?"

"Yes," Brightheart admitted, "he did. We don't take any joy in that, though. We may live wild compared to you, but we aren't rogues."

Autumn hummed thoughtfully. "I see. You were testing me, then, about my potential attachment to Twolegs. Why? I can only guess that you want to bring my back to your group. Well, have you asked me yet if that's what I want? You haven't made any argument in favor of your Clan."

Huh? Cloudtail's jaw practically fell open. Here he had been wondering how Brightheart would possibly convince ThunderClan to take in this stranger, who was a seeming liability of a cat, and Autumn had the guts to ask them this in return? Well, it did mean that she was brave and unafraid to speak her mind. Those were half the makings of a good ThunderClan cat already.

Cloudtail laid his tail over Brightheart, hoping to indicate to her that he was going to take the lead here. It would be difficult, if not impossible, for Brightheart to make a good case for life as a warrior. She was too used to it, Clan life being the only thing she truly knew. It was hard to explain the benefits of something from the perspective of that being the only way you'd ever lived. He feared that, even if coming from a well-meaning place, his mate would come across too heavy-pawed in discussing the Clans. Worse, Brightheart might start with StarClan and the benefits of spending your afterlife as a peaceful ancestor spirit, and then Autumn really would make you leave. To any non-Clan cat, that would just sound like rambling nonsense.

"You know that Princess is my mom," he said. There was no better place to start than the beginning, after all. "I was born as a kittypet, but Princess gave me to her brother, Firestar, once I was about two moons old. Firestar -- all of us -- live in the group called ThunderClan. Our territory starts in the pine forest next to the Twolegplace. We all live in a camp together, with dens for everyone, a leader to guide us, and a medicine cat to look after us when we're sick or hurt. When I was younger, I didn't really get Clan life. I would sneak out to Twolegplace, play nice with Twolegs to get food and attention from them." Though he was glad every day to have Twolegs out of his life for good, Cloudtail still remembered how nice it had felt to bunt up against them and receive pets from their gentle hands. "Then, one day, I messed up. The Twolegs brought me in and took me away! I wasn't sure if I would ever see ThunderClan again. Firestar managed to find me and save me, but I was still in trouble. He made me really decide whether I wanted to live as a Clan warrior or as a kittypet."

"You chose the Clan, of course," Autumn said. She seemed intently focused on his story. "But why? What benefit does a Clan give you that makes up for all the freedom you lose? You have to go where they tell you to, stay in your territory, obey whatever the other rules are."

"The Clan gives me a home and purpose in life. I have cats to care about and who care about me. I can see kits grow up, take care of the elders, hunt food for those who need it, and celebrate the growth of all the cats beside me. It's not just about having to work and follow the rules," Cloudtail said, though he wasn't sure if any of it would get through to Autumn. He wasn't even sure if she would be a good fit for the Clan, or if he was allowed to do this! But he did want to make Brightheart happy, and he knew that right now, what would make Brightheart happy was giving the life of a warrior a good pitch to Autumn.

Autumn hummed and flicked her tail back and forth, thinking something over for a moment. When she spoke, she seemed different from before. "You mentioned food for those who need it. You said you wouldn't pity me, but is that who I am? Some charity who needs to be cared for, just there to do what exactly? Make your Clan seem bigger?"

"That's not it at all!" Brightheart interjected, speaking up for the first time in a while. "I wouldn't offer Clan life to anyone for that reason. You have honor and dignity. You refuse to live with Twolegs, and you don't want anyone to look down on you. You keep your pelt clean, even with where you've ended up taking shelter. Maybe you don't want to come with us, but to me, you already have the makings of a warrior."

Autumn stared up at Brightheart, eyes wide. It was so quiet. All Cloudtail could hear was the rumble of Twoleg monsters from far away and the rustling of branches, their leaf-buds newly growing in, on the trees.

"How could I be a warrior?" Autumn's voice small, like she wasn't truly believing either of them. Like if she did believe them, only for them to have been lying to her or making up Clan life, it would deal another wound to her already injured heard.

"I'm a warrior," Cloudtail said, "even though I used to live like a kittypet. I've proven myself, and my Clanmates stand by me and accept me."

"And I'm a warrior," Brightheart said. "My scars don't stop me. I fight and live as fiercely for my Clan as any other cat. Why don't you come with us to camp? You can see what you think of it for yourself. If you don't like it, we could help you find somewhere else to live -- not with Twolegs -- when you've had some food and some rest." 

"Okay." Autumn nodded. "I'll come with you, but just to see what it's like. Living by myself is very dull. Nothing ever happens, except when outdoor kittypets like Princess come to visit me."

Cloudtail blinked at her in surprise. He'd complained about being bored as a kit waiting for his six-moons apprentice ceremony, and maybe once while in the medicine den, but the feeling of boredom was mostly a stranger to warriors. It seemed more nostalgic then something to be avoided. 

"Let's go, then!" Brightheart jumped up with excitement, obviously pleased to be heading back to ThunderClan territory. "Cloudtail, will you take us to the fence?"

"Of course!" Cloudtail chirped. He thought that he might have to support Autumn as she walked, but she seemed fully energized by their meal of pigeon. The three of them made a good pace back to the ThunderClan border, even if it wasn't as fast as he and Brightheart would have travelled as just the two of them.

It was only once they made it to the fence that separated the end of the Twolegplace from Tallpines that he realized there might be an issue. Were cats still able to jump without their claws? He tried to think about jumping without his claws. How much did he use them? But it was impossible to figure out. Jumping was too instinctive for him to be able to puzzle out the mystery.

"Can you get up the fence?" he asked. He was aware as he asked the question that he was being a little too delicate with it, in the way one would talk to a kit instead of a fully-grown cat.

"I'm not sure." Autumn tilted her head at the fence. She tried a running leap at the fence, and though she made it most of the way up the fence, she wasn't able to fully cross it. Her paws scrambled for purchase on the wood, trying to find grip so that she could haul herself up, but without claws, there was no way for her to do it. Awkwardly, she slid back down to the bottom. With a huff, she got back up into a standing position. Cloudtail was about to ask if she was alright, but one shake of the head from Brightheart stopped him.

"It's okay not to make it on the first time." Brightheart leapt up the fence herself, balancing gracefully on the topmost piece of wood. Cloudtail followed her up. With his increased bulk, it was harder for him to pull of the balancing act that came so naturally to his mate, but he gripped his claws into the wood until he was sturdy and safe. "Try again, and we'll help you up!"

This time, as Autumn nearly reached the top of the fence, Brightheart grabbed her scruff, and Cloudtail leaned over. With one of his front legs, he helped Autumn up and over the fence. Like almost every cat older than a single moon, Autumn fell to the ground on even paws. Brightheart and Cloudtail jumped down to follow. They'd made it back to ThunderClan territory -- and what an adventure they'd had outside of it!